Posted - 03/14/2013 : 06:33:14 AM I have a huge collection of vintage knitting books and magazines that I love to thumb through and use for inspiration. Sometimes I'll grab an intarsia graph or fairisle pattern, or a particular stitch pattern and use it in another sweater. Finding yarns that work can be a challenge, as well as updating the style and sizing.

Does anyone have any particular tips that might make this process a little easier? i love to experiment.

7 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First)

phlame

Posted - 03/28/2013 : 10:25:07 AM I would suggest a computer program such as "Sweater Wizard" You can chose the style of sweater, your measurements, your yarn weight,your gauge and get the pattern all printed out for you. This company is out of business, I Googled it (Sweater Wizard) and there are lots of places to buy it. One place I found is this:

I have used it for years and found it easy to use and invaluable. I have copied lots of sweaters this way. It's not at all complicated to use.

Shirley, Dana Point, CA

...I'm fairly certain that, given a cape and a nice tiara, I could save the world.

Ceil

Posted - 03/28/2013 : 07:10:30 AMwww.antiqueknittinglibrary.com, my favorite in there being a book by Barsaloux. I made the Alpine Hat, and there's also a wrap sweater I'd like to try. Just don't have time now.

You'll still have the issues of figuring out which yarn to use, but swatch and then do some math.

What's interesting to me is that ribbing seemed not to have been discovered yet in the mid-1800s. They used a lot of garter stitch, I'm guessing because stockinette edges curl.

Posted - 03/26/2013 : 11:30:01 AM The book I use most is Barbara Walker's "Knitting from the Top". It's more "talkative" than "Knitting In The Old Way" and I find it easier to use (you need to do the math - only a bit -, otherwise Walker tells you step by step what to do). And, of course, if you are knitting for yourself and can try on as you knit, you don't have to do all that much measuring. Maggie Righetti has also written a big book about sweater knitting which lets you do the maths, but which requires a complete set of measurements. (I couldn't use Budd's books either :( )

Posted - 03/17/2013 : 8:23:41 PM I took one look at Ann Budd's book and my eyes glazed over. She picked the numbers. Maybe they don't work for what I'm going to do.

I got VERY happy with "Knitting in the Old Way", by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts. (It didn't hurt that I met her some six weeks before emergency eye surgery came into my life and the only knitting I could do for a while was with big stitches until the eye healed.) She lets me pick the numbers, and the book is loaded with sweater techniques. Many of the illustrations are hand-drawn. At first, that bothered me, but I quickly realized the latitude they give to create one's own designs. I knitted my first NINE sweaters without a pattern and without seams, thanks to that book. Now, when I knit from patterns, I'm fearless about adapting them, and it isn't the end of the world if the numbers don't come out quite right. You can see some of my designs on Ravelry. While PGR leans towards old sweater designs, I've done some out-of-the-box originals that the info in her book freed me to create. So it isn't just for old designs.

I hope this is the book you are looking for. You sound like you would get a lot of use out of it. I devoured my copy!

Your gauge, your yarn, your size. All the numbers calculated for you in grids with directions. Suggestions for customizing and a few pattern designs for specific sweaters to give you ideas on using the general patterns.

There are also several books on designing sweaters that give you the skills to design and come up with your own directions and numbers. Wander around a local book or yarn store if you have one, or Amazon.

Janet in TN

robinstephanie

Posted - 03/14/2013 : 09:09:36 AM I just saw a book on this last night at the library, but can't remember the name. Next time I'm by, I'll try to find it again and let you know.